Electric water-level indicator.



W. E. MOOREFIELD & A. J. BRADY.

ELECTRIC WATER LEVEL INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 6, 1912. RENEWED JUNE 19. 1914.

1,124,055. Patented Jan. 5, 1915.

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A affozueq W. E. MOOREFIELD & A. J. BRADY. ELECTRIC WATER LEVEL INDICATOR. APPLICATION FILED APR. 6, 1912. RENEWED JUNE 19, 1914.

1,124,055, Patented Jan.5,1915.

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affowcg U1\T1TED-STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM E. MOOREFIELD AND ANDREW J. BRADY, or HINTON, wnsr VIRGINIA; SAID MOOREFIELD ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF OF HIS HINTON, WEST VIRGINIA.

RIGHT TO GEORGE L. TAYLOR, OF

ELECTRIC WATER-LEVEL INDICATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 5, 1915.

Application filed April 6,1912, Serial No. 689,013. Renewed June 19, 1914. Serial No. 846,215.

7 '0 all whom it may concern Be it known that we, l/VILLIAM E. Moorin- FIELD and ANDREW J. BRADY, citizens of the United States, residing at Hinton, in the county of Summers and State of \Vest Virginia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Electric \Vater-Level Indicators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to water level indicators and particularly to electrically operated indicators, the principal obj ect of the invention being to provide a simple and efficient device of this character which will antomatically indicate the varying degrees of rise and fall of the water in the tank, reservoir, or other receptacle.

The invention relates particularly to that type of devices employing a plurality of instruments and which use the 'water in the receptacle to complete the electrical circuits.

It is a well known fact that while water is a conductor of electricity, that it is a very poor conductor and, for this reason, it is the object of the invention to cut out the instruments successively as the water rises or to cut in the instruments successively as the water decreases so as to relieve the otherwise heavy drain on the batteries or source oi current.

Further objects of this invention will ap pear as the following specific description is read in connection with the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this application, and in which Figure 1- is a diagrammatic view. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of one of the instruments; Fig. 3 is a front elevation. Fig. 4 is an elevation of the contact and conductor supporting tube. Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of one of the contact plugs.

In the specific embodiment of the invention, as illustrated herein, three instruments A, B and C are employed, each of which comprises an electric magnet 1 adapted to coact upon an armature 2 which is carried by a pivoted insulating bin-m3 pivotefd to the y e away rom the.

base 4 and normal poles of the magnet by springs et The instrument A is provided with four binding posts, not shown, upon the base, two for themagnet' and two for separate spring contacts 5 and 6, which are adapted to bear against a platinum strip carried by the insulating bar 3. The bar 3 also carries a contact plate similar to that shown at 7 in Fig. 2 for engaging the spring contacts 8 and 9, as will be hereinafter described. The instrument EB is similarly constructed but the bar 3 thereof is provided with two separated platinum plates 10 and 11, while the instru: ment 0 is provided with three separate contact plates, as shown in Fig. 2, at 12, 13 and 14. The contact plate 10 is adapted to be engaged with spring contacts 15 and 16, while the contact plate 11 is adapted to engage spring contact-fingers 17 and 18. The plates 12, 13 and 14. of the instrument C are adapted to engage respectively, the spring shown at B and controls the lights I, Z, Z

and Z. The circuit wires of the light Z, are indicated at 30 and 31 and are connected to opposite sides of the battery and to contacts 32 and 33 which are bridged by the armature 34 of the magnet 35. This magnet is connected on one side to the battery B by a conductor 36 and on the opposite side to the contact 20 by means of the conductor 37.

The contacts 17 and 19 are connected together by a conductor 38 while the contacts 6 and 18 are connected together by a similar conductor 39. The contact 5 is connected directly through a conductor 4.0 to the contact 41 in the contact supporting tube 42, while the opposite side of the battery B is connected to a neutral or ground contact 43 arranged at the lowermost point of the tube 42. The light Z is connected on one side to the battery B by a conductor 4.4. and on the opposite side through a conductor 47 to the contact 22.

are connected by a similar wire 49. The

light Z is connected on one side with a battery B through the Wire 4: 1 and on the'opposite side to the contact 21. The contact 23 is connected to the contact 25 by a jumper wire 50,1 while the contacts 29, 26, and 8 are 7 all connected to a common wire 51 which is connected to the plus side of the battery B The contact 28 is connected directly to one side of the lamp Z the opposite side of said lamp being connected to the battery B through the wire 44. The succeeding contacts of the contact tube are connected at 52, 53, and 54, the first one of'whichis connected through a conductor to one side of the magnet of the instrument A, the op-- posite side of the magnet being connected to the minus side of the battery B by a conductor 56. The contact 53 is connected magnet of the instrument B, While the opposite side of said magnet is connected by means of the conductor 58 to the minus side of the battery B through the conductors'36 and 56. The contact 54 is connected to one side of the magnet of the instrument G through a conductor 59 while'the opposite side of said magnet is connected to the conductor 36 by means of a wire 60.

In the operation of the device, the tube 42 is placed in the receptacle containing the water with the contact 43 arranged adja'- cent its bottom. The succeeding contacts 41, 52, 53, and 54 are arranged at approximately one foot intervals. When the water rises in the receptacle so as to engage the contact 41, the circuit of the battery B will be completed as follows: the battery B, 43 through the water, to the contact 41, 40, 5, contact plate 7 and instrument A, contact 6, wire 39 contacts l8, 11, 17, wire 38 to contacts 19, 12 and 20, over wire 37, through the magnet 35, and back to battery B over I the conductors 36 and 56. This will cause the magnet 35 to pull up the armature 34 and bridge the contacts 32 and 33 which completes the circuit of the battery 13 to the lamp Z as follows: B .44, l, 31-, 32, 34, 33, and back to battery over wire 30. When the water rises to engage the contact 52, the current will travel over the following path from the battery B: 43 through the water to contact 52, over conductor 55 to the magnet of instrument A and back to'battery over the wire 56. Owing to the fact that the magnets of the instruments A, B and C have considerably less resistance than the magnet 35, it will be readily seen that immediately upon the engagement of the water with the contact 52, that the current will take the path of the least resistance and the magnet of the instrument A willbe operated and upon the operation of this ma et, the contact plate will be disengaged from the contacts 5 and 6, and the contact plate 7 thereof will engage the contacts 8 and 9. This will break the circuit of the magnet 35 and consequently of the lamp Z and willcomplete the circuit-of the lamp Z over the following path: batter B 44, Z, 47, 22, 13,

21, 48, 15, 10, 16, 49,9, 8 and'51to batter-ya When the water rises to engage the contact point 53, the circuit will be completed over of the instrument B, and over wires 58, 36

and 56 to the opposite side of the'battery. v

The magnet, in this instance, Willthen pull up and disconnect the contacts 15, and 1 y from the plate 10 and connect the plate with the contacts 25 and 26, thus ,the circuit of the lamp Z will be broken and the circuit of the lamp Z completed as follows: battery,

B 44, Z 24, 14, 23, 50, 25, 7, 26, and back to battery over the conductor 51. Upon reach: ing the highest level, the water will engage the contact 54 and complete the'circuit of the magnet '1 of the instrument 0 as follows: battery B, 43, 54, 59, magnet of instrument C, 60, 36, and back to battery over the wire 56. This will pull up on the armature 2 of said magnet and disconnect the contacts 2324 from. the plate 14 so as to break the circuit of the lamp Z It will also disconnect the contacts 21 and 22, and 19 and 20 from their respective plates 13 and 12 and will connect the plates 7 with the contacts 28 and 29 so as to complete the circuit of the lamp Z over the conductors 61 and 62. The magnet 35 has a resistance equal to thirty ohms, while the magnets of the instruments A, B and C have a resistance of 20,10 and 5 ohms, respectively. This is in order to overcome the increasing distance between the contact pins 43 and 54 and the resistance of the water.

What is claimed is I 1. The combination with a receptacle adapted to contain water and a plurality of contacts superimposed therein and adapted to be bridged by the water within the receptacle, a source of current connected directly to one of the contacts, a light circuit includ- "ing a source of current, terminal contacts adapted to contain water and a plurality of contacts superimposed therein'and adapted to be bridged by the water within the receptacle, a source of current connected directly to one ofthe contacts, a light circuit including a .source of current, terminal contactsand a contact bridging member, means controlled by the water in the receptacle for operating said contact bridging member to .join the terminals of the light circuit, and

means controlled by a further rise of the water for automatically cutting out said opcrating means, together with an independentlight circuit having contact terminals bridged upon the operation of said last-- named means.

3. The combination with a receptacle as the Water rises to automatically disconadapted to contain water and a plurality of nect the aforesaid light circuit and to consup'erimposed contacts arran ed therein, of neat up other light circuits.

a source of current connecte .to one of the In testimony whereof We afiix our signa 5 contacts, a plurality of light circuits having tures inv presence of two Witnesses.

a comon source of current, relays controlling WILLIAM E. MOOREFIELD.

said light circuits, means controlled by the ANDREW J. BRADY.

rise of the Water for automatically complet- Witnesses:

ing the circuit of one of the lights, and HARRY W. REYNOLDS,

10 means for actuating the relays 1n sequence HARVEY EWART. 

